what was it about the trench coat/leggings/g-string/perm hair fella that spoke to you in thos formulative years of your life?

for me it was uptown...our clothes our hair we don't care, it's all about being there.

I was not an adolescent when I started loving Prince, and that was in the early 80's.

The 12" of Purple Rain! 'God' on the b side! And, When Doves Cry... all that. That simple really... The music first, then the movie - which just seemed to reflect everything around me at the time, yeah 'Uptown' I suppose. I loved how 'brave' he was too! What's kept me here is the music, Oh, and that ass!!

Music
Songs that I could relate to.
Prince and Dirty Mind in high school.

well im an adolescent...what drew me 2 him was as a person thats tryna pursue a career in music i was totally uninspired by what i heard on the radio e.t.c 50 cent ...didnt know Prince was trying to get his vids of youtube but i looked it up before it got taken off found When Doves Cry. Not that i didnt know this song before but i was more familiar with Ginuine's version that i liked BUT LOOVED when i heard Prince's one watched it over and over again. Fell in love with dudes music..had always loved it from the whole musicology era but more soo after buying and listening to Purple Rain,1999 and SOTT...

The catchiness of the Linn drum and the image of some pretty little black man tearing up the guitar got me.

The successful mix of accessibility and experiment in the music is what made me stay.

His music and his style.
[Edited 8/9/08 14:16pm]

he was different, like me
and didn't give a damn either
that made it all okay

plus, the first album i heard from him was 1999
what was NOT to like about his music at the time?

Listening to Darlin Nikki at 11 was both a shock to myself but coming up to a sexual awakening, it made me feel like I could at least receive some kind of sex education from the man himself. Prince made me feel slightly naughty, free of expression and different from the Wham fans out there(George Michael is not a saint now is he susan, and I told you he would never marry you!!).

What has kept me here is his constant moving philosophy on his life. From being a child and the struggles of being accepted, having a baby, finding other faiths to believe in and the fact that we are all living, breathing, sexual beings who just all want to be loved and to love back.

I wanna give good love and get love in return.

As long as he keeps writing and performing, I'm there. Always.

xxxxx

I was an adolescent when PR came out. I listened to and loved 1999, but had never been to any concert when I went to see PR in the movie theater. It was the performance of Computer Blue back to back with Darlin' Nikki. I had never gotten so excited about music before then. Raw and Nasty. I was into bad boys, so the myterious, dirty, sexy, guitar wailing, arrogant image was just what I wanted.

It's still makes me melt.

After getting hooked on his music i fell for his humour, i just love him in his movies, he's got such a great sense of humour, he seems like such a fun guy, and of course he is so so handsome, also love the fact that his music is so different, and there is so much of it, how could i ever get bored!

Controversy - 13 years old - small town - being different all worked up to a trust of no one, but myself.

At 9,1 look at the Dirty Mind album cover,and I was hooked! That same year,I saw the Lovesexy tour.So,the whole "look" and the music 2.

1999 then i bought his albums and ALWAYS LOVE PRINCE i
[Edited 8/9/08 17:52pm]

Definetley his daring, his music his style adn the fact he was also a good laugh intially (The cream vdeo had me in stitches, and me asking "Can people really be that rude and that blunt in a video". But after buying that single and the albums, I realised he was a very clever artist and the music was excellent and he had this incredible musical legacy that made D and P look lame. Within a year I had discovered everything back to 4u. I was 15 and 16. When I was 17, The Hits/Bsides came out, which gave me a platform to get all the older albums one by one, so by the time I was 19 I had them all.

I was around 12 when Soft and Wet was the gentleman's skate song at the skating ring and the girls would holla when we did our thing to that cut. I thought it was a girls group but I knew whoever it was was funky. Plus I've always had good taste.

i guess, it is all really simple, Prince, as in the image, persona and so on, who in their right mind, apart from David Bowie, would have thought for a split second that Prince, some young, more or less homeless mixed child, would make it. For example, I am sure there are alot of orgers here who first heard of Prince with When Doves Cry, as in you could remember song title and artist, as I am sure many had heard 1999, but could never place the singer.

1984 arrived, and I imagine, many of us, particularily the eurpoean fanbase, thought, WTF, this is fantastic, only to realise, no one knew who this was, then, we found out, there are five other albums we dont have, the journey and the mystery begins.

it was the ventriloquist clip on purple rain..the way he addressed women..the words of his mind put to a melody..his image which obviously didn't change from the medias words dealing with femininity..it was his respect and love for God..thats what drew me to him..and those are sum of the reasons on why 'm still here..

I first learned of Prince when I was 10 from a girl at school who was a VERY big fan. She brought some of his music to school with her one day,and let me hear it,but I think I was to into MJ at that time to realize that what I was hearing was special. I remember going with my Mom to rent movies,and seeing Purple Rain,and thinking, "Oh that's that guy" of course since it was a R rated movie it took some pleading with my Mom for me to get it,but I did,and that was the first time I heard I Would Die 4 U,and all the other PR songs. It was then that I realized that he was definately someone that I needed to be listening to,that,and i loved his eyes,and thought he was SO cute. My Mom then got me the PR 12" for my 11th birthday,and it was eventually broke(my friend sat on it),come to thinking of it that's how my Mom's WHAM! 12" got broke. Her ass became a dangerous thing for out records. Anyway back to the subject.

As for what kept me.. I have stayed a fan,but in all honesty,I did'nt buy any other music of P's after ATWIAD. I got heavily into George Michael,and it was really just recently that I was flipping through the different albums on my iPod when I stopped on the PR soundtrack,and after listening to it, I could'nt figure out for the life of me why I hadn't listened to him more often. I truely love his music. Then I started searching to see what I had all missed,and found the org,and now I am going to be poor soon cause I want to get all the music that he has released.
[Edited 8/9/08 19:48pm]

I've been a Prince fan for literally my entire life!!! When my mother was pregnant with me, one of my older brothers (r.i.p) had a Walkman and when he put the headphones on my mother's stomach I apparently started to react.

Prince's music was a part of my life before it even began!!!

I guess I'm still a Prince fan because he's like family. His music reminds me of my childhood. Whenever I here songs like Kiss I become that 3 or 4 year old little boy dancing and singing in the living room!!!

<-----her

i started liking P on accident. i was bored one day (when i was about 13/14 - 4/5 years ago) and none of the music that i had was sounding good to me. so i went looking through my mother's music, which she never listens to and pulled out Musicology. I listened to the whole album and I liked it.

Not too long afterward, I saw decided to watch Purple Rain on VH1 and I couldn't believe the awesomeness that I was witnessing. I've been hooked ever since. What's kept me interested in P, is all the music that I have to discover to catch up with fans who have been around for a while.

It was just something in Prince's eyes...and I never took mine off of him...

Consummate musician, endless talent, amazing live performances even today.

Watching Purple Rain did it for me
as to what has kept me here, his great music and awesome concerts!!!

Heard When Doves Cry and was hooked (I was just a teenager then). Blew me away. I bought all his albums after that as they were released and bought his previous albums when I could get the money together.

I still remember sitting outside Wembley Arena for hours witing to see him in the Nude tour. I had never had the chance to see him live before that and me and my mate Mark sat there for hours. We knew the doors would not open for many hours but there was nowhere else we wanted to be but waiting for P. I was blown away by the music and performance but also that I was finally in the same room as a man whose music I loved and could finally hear it all first hand. When he sang Purple Rain, the guitar solo touched me in a way I cannot describe

I think it is his love of music that keeps me there. Music is one of the central things in my life, and P is the same, so when he jams in an aftershow gig it is so amazing to me.
[Edited 8/10/08 4:37am]

Fury said:

Purple Rain was the must for me.That said peace and love to U all!

I knew when doves cry, let's go crazy, i would die 4 u since I was 2 or 3 years old in the mid 80's and that made me love prince. I never thought he was hot until this decade to be honest. He's really aged well. As an adolescent, I was silly and thought he was "so gay" cause I was an idiot, WTF was I thinking? He's awesome and I now love guys who groom themselves well

I was neither impressionable nor an adolescent.

His amazing performances at all, and differents styles of his songs